274 { China’s Quest
of foreign delegations and dignitaries received and the number of Chinese
delegations sent abroad declined precipitously. So too did the Chinese media’s
coverage of foreign events. China’s foreign affairs apparatus was preoccupied
with the political struggles raging within that system.
By late 1967, Zhou, with Mao’s support, reasserted control over China’s
diplomacy. In May, when Mao ordered an expansion of the Cultural
Revolution in the foreign affairs system, Zhou had directed that the “power
of diplomacy should not be seized and top secrets should not be captured,
administration and personnel records should not be used, and the politi-
cal department established by Chairman Mao should not be destroyed.” By
year’s end, however, Zhou had determined that “a handful of class enemies
and extreme left elements openly disobeyed the [May] directive” and took
actions that “greatly damaged the power of diplomacy.”^19 Putting affairs to
rights, Zhou directed that Chinese embassies should not carry the Cultural
Revolution to foreign capitals. Statements endorsing the struggles of Hong
Kong communists against Britain became scarce. On China’s October 1
National Day, chargés d’affaires at Chinese embassies in Nepal, Ceylon, and
Cambodia held receptions, as had been usual before the Cultural Revolution.
Early the next year, Beijing began to repair relations with Burma. The tone of
Chinese statements about Burma moderated. A substantial contribution was
made to the Burma Red Cross for typhoon disaster relief. Gradually, China’s
diplomacy returned to normal, though without giving the appearance of a
humiliating retreat.^20
Still, many of China’s former “diplomatic fighters” languished in rural
cadre schools. In May 1970 Zhou moved to restrict the scope of the purge
of China’s diplomatic corps by stipulating that people should be punished
only for specific “crimes.” Among these crimes were the “seizure of power”
following Wang Li’s August 7 talk and burning the British mission. Yao
Dengshan would spend ten years in prison and not be rehabilitated until- Chen Yi was reengaged briefly in 1969 to join other PLA marshals
in evaluating the international situation, but never again held power after
losing Mao’s trust.^21 Chen Yi died of cancer, still in disgrace, in 1972. The
“campaign to purify class ranks” in the MFA ended in October 1972, and
most MFA cadre previously sent to cadre schools were recalled to diplo-
matic service. China needed diplomats to staff the many new embassies
being opened around the world following its September 1971 admission to
the United Nations.
The Mounting Threat of Soviet InterventionIn 1792, as the French Revolution approached its most radical stage, many
French aristocrats targeted by the increasingly republican upheaval looked